Most conventional residential toilets make use of a supply of water in a tank mounted above the toilet bowl. Water from the tank is released into the bowl to flush waste from the bowl down into the waste drain. Various types of mechanisms within the tank typically serve to control the flow of water to the bowl and subsequently to replenish the water in the tank. For example, floats are often employed by these mechanisms to control the amount of water that is flushed and replenished.
Setting the vertical position of these floats is a desirable way to adjust the amount of water that is flushed and replenished. Unfortunately, many toilet mechanisms employ float adjustments that are difficult to use and often require the hand of the user to be submerged in the tank. Furthermore, locking the float in position, once it has been adjusted, can be cumbersome and ineffective. This is especially true for dual flush toilets in which two different floats are used, with one controlling the flush volume for a full (solid waste) flush, and another controlling the flush volume for a partial (liquid only waste) flush.
As will be show, the present invention provides a float adjustment mechanism that may be adjusted easily and intuitively. A single mechanism (e.g.: a first dial) can be used to adjust the full flush float and another mechanism (e.g.: a second dial) can be used to adjust the partial flush float. A benefit of the present invention is to create a float adjustment mechanism that may be adjusted with limited water contact to the user's hand. A further advantage of the present invention is to create a float adjustment mechanism incorporating a simple and secure float locking capability. It is to be understood that although the present invention is preferably used in a dual flush toilet (to adjust both partial and full flush volumes), it can also be used in a traditional single flush toilet (having only one float).